Process of concentrating ores.



'rnomes A. JANNEY, or GARFIELD, AND cnaanns m. 1101138, or SALT LAKE crr'r,

PROCESS OF CONCENTRATING 03,135.

1,2 1,018. no Drawing.

,To all whom it, my concern:

.Be it known that we, THOMAS A. J ANNEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Garfield, in the county of'Salt Lake and State of. Utah, and CHARLES M. Nouns, a

Y citizenof the United States, residing at Salt' Lake City, in the county of Salt Lake and State of- Utah,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes of Concentrating Ores, of which the following is a specification. The obJect of this mvention is to prov de more economical means for the concentration. of ores by the flotation process, and to 15 combine with such economy greater efi'ectiveness'in point of the amount of metal recovered and the purity of the concentrate.

Our improved process effects the desired economy by reason of the fact that we are able to use oils which are very abundant and cheap, renderin these oils eflective to produce the desire 'result by dissolving therein a proportion of 'lsonite. In some instances we have found it advisable to add to the mixture a third ingredient consisting of some frothing oil, this, however, not being necessary in all .cases. There are a large number of oils whichare eficient agents for either with or without mineral acid, .will' roduce an abundance of bubbles or froth, butno eflicient separation of the metalllferous mineral from the gangue. If pine oil, however, be used in connection with the solution of gilsonite in crude petroleum or petroleum distillate, the slimes of the Utah copper ore may be concentrated with the highest degree of eficiency, both' as to the recovery and grade of concentrate. While the solution ofgilsonite 1n petroleum or a petroleum distillate and ,in some cases, with somebubble forming-substance Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 8, 1918.

Application filed iuly 28, 1917. Serial No. 183,816.

added is an efficient flotation agent, it has been found that neither of the oils mentioned, when taken alone, is effective to produce anefficient result in connection with many ores, and in connection with other ores, the result produced by pine oil or petroleum alone is less efliclent than that produced b the mixture named. The appllcation o a low degree of heat hastens the solution of the gilsonite in the petroleum,

but without the application of heat, the gilv sonite .will dissolve, but more slowly.

Gilsonite may be used to advantage with other oils and oily substances than the petroleum products, but we have mentioned crude .petroleum and petroleum distillate by reason of the fact that they are cheap and. serve the urpose efliciently. l

T e 'xture of gilsonite with petroleum, or other oily substance, and some substance like pine oil, which has the property of pro- 'ducing bubbles or froth, is not restricted to any particular method of carrying out the flotation rocess. The process may be carried out y the method of beating air into the" pulp by mechanical agitation, with the result of producing a coherent and permanent froth, or the agitation may be dispensed with and the air may be introduced through a porous medium forming part of the vessel containing the pulp, thus 'vingrise to the formation of evanescent bu bles which must be quickly collected, or gases other than air produced chemically or electrolytically may be utilized.

As an example of our process, we, have used in connection with the slimes of the Utah Copper Companys ore a mixture consisting of 40% of gilsonite and 60% of kerosene distillate. We have also used a mixture consisting of 90% California fuel oil and 10% of gilsonite in solution. We have also used various other petroleum distillates with varying amounts of gilsonite in solution. In treating the slimes of the Utah .copper ore, we have added the petroleumgilsonite solution in the proportion of 20 lbs. per ton of solids contained in the pulp,

and have added thereto pine oil in the proportion of about one pound per ton of solids in the pulp. In usin this mixture, we used about five pounds 0 sulfuric acid per ton of material treated. The pulp with the reagents named was .first stirred sufiiciently to distribute the re-agents throughout the I pulp. After the pulp andv ire-agents were mixed, the pulp was conducted to a cell provided with a porous wall through which air was caused to percolate into the pulp. 'llhe covery than had been accomplished by methods heretofore in use.

The operation above described was in one instance conducted for a period of eight hours, during which time about 260 tons of material were treated. The average results for 8 hours were as follows: Heads-1.03% copper; Tailings.08% copper; Concentrate-19.9% copper, 19% iron, and 26% silica. l

The extraction indicated by the figures above was 92.61%. On other occasions the silica contained in the concentrate, operating under similar conditions, was much less.

Acid, alkalis, salts, or other re-agents may be used in connection with the gilsonite mixture when the treatment of any particular ore is improved by the use of said reagents, and the temperature and other factors may be adjusted to obtain the best results as is usual in the use of other oils and oil mixtures.

What we claim is:

1. A process of concentrating ores con- I sisting in forming a mixture of the ground ore with water, adding thereto a solution of gils'onite in oil, and aerating the pulp.

2. A process of concentrating ores consisting in forming a mixture of the ground ore with water, adding thereto a solution of manure gilsonite in oil, adding another oil having greater frothing power than said first named oil, and aerating the pulp.

3. A process of concentrating ores consisting in forming a mixture of the ground ore with water, adding thereto a solution of gilsonite in oil, adding another oil having greater frothing power than said first named on, adding a suitable acid re-agent to the pulp, and aerating the pulp.

4:. A. process of concentrating ores consisting of forming a mixture of 'the ground ore With water, adding thereto a solution of gilsonite in oil, adding another oil having greater frothing power than said first named oil, adding a suitable reagent to the pulp, and aerating the pulp.

5. A process of concentrating ores consisting in forming a mixture of ground ore with water, oil having a mineral selective action, oil having a frothing action, and gilsonite, and aerating the resultant mixture to concentrate the metalliferous content thereof.

6. A process of concentrating ores consisting in forming a mixture of ground ore with water, oil having a'mineral selective action, oil having a frothing action, gilsonite, and a suitable quantity of a re-agent,

and aerating the resultant mixture to concentrate the metalliferous content thereof.

In testimony whereof we have subscribed our names.

THOMAS A. JANNEY, CHAS. M. NOKES. Witnessesz C. Y. Pron'rz, A. C. Financ 

